Nightmares
by zen.silver
Summary: "My name is Katniss Everdeen Mellark. I am thirty-eight years old. All my nightmares are coming true." Katniss's children are going into the arena. Why? How? Read on to find out. Slightly A/U, rated T. *SYOT OPEN, 13 PLACES LEFT!*
1. Introduction

**Hey there!**

**To apologize for not updating or posting for so long, I wrote this. I shall probably continue it... ****_if _****you review, that is. **

**Now read! I've kidnapped Peeta and I ain't letting him go until I get ten reviews!**

**UPDATE: I've decided this should be an SYOT. If you'd like to submit a tribute, go to my profile and copy the form, and then send it in a review or PM! Thanks in advance!**

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My name is Katniss Everdeen Mellark.

I am thirty-eight years old.

All my nightmares are coming true.

I have two children, a girl and a boy. The girl, fifteen at the moment, is named Ashe Mellark. The boy, a mere twelve years of age, goes by Cin, short for Cinder.

We names them to honor all our deceased family members.

Nearly all of them were killed by fire.

My husband... he's another affair.

Peeta Mellark, a sweet, kind person who's been a huge part of my life. I think there is no one who can and does care for me as much as he does, and I'm very sure that I don't deserve him. Our children adore him with every bit of their heart.

We are a very... a very famous family in our country. People know us, and they know our life. I abhor it. They know us better than we do ourselves.

Both of us aren't exactly in best mental shape. We get nightmares, hallucinations. But there is a reason behind it, just like there is a reason for everything else.

We took part in the Hunger Games, about twenty years ago. It's been a long, long time. But some things, like our nightmares, just refuse to go away.

Today is the reaping.

Twenty years later, I still have the irrational fear of being chosen again, even though I know it won't happen.

But this time... this time, both my children are in danger.

They are in danger of dying, and I can't save them.

I'm afraid.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm back with more!**

**I got an anon. review, and I just want to say, if you're reading this, thank you!**

**Alright, I think the concept of this fic is a little confusing, so I'm going to tell you not to forget that this is an A/U, and Katniss and Peeta never went into the games a second time, the revolution never happened, and the Capitol is still in charge. In fact, everything went exactly the way the Capitol wanted it to.**

**Any questions? PM or review is the way to go!**

**UPDATE: This is gonna be an SYOT, so go to my profile and fill in the form, and then PM or review it to me! That is, _if_ you want to. But I'm warning you, I've got Peeta kidnapped and who knows what I might do to him! **

***pokes Peeta and hisses something about him saying his part***

**Peeta: Just read and review, please! Otherwise this maniac might... might _do_ something to me!**

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_A lady with a veil over her face comes into my view. She reaches into a big glass bowl which is vaguely familiar to me. She pulls out a slip of paper and unfolds it. Then, holding it up to the light, she reads it._

"_Congratulations, Katniss Everdeen! You have been selected for the Hunger Games!"_

_I feel a growing horror in my stomach and realize that I know the voice. _

_The lady raises a clawed hand and unveils herself._

"_You will never escape me, Miss Everdeen. Neither will your filthy offspring." _

_Snow's voice echoes in my head as I scream._

I wake up with a jolt.

_It was just a dream, _I assure myself. _Nothing to worry about. Snow's dead. You know that. The epidemic killed him. There's a new president now._

I reach over to Peeta's side of the bed, feeling for the telltale warmth that means he's there to hug me, to tell me it's alright.

He isn't there.

I sigh and roll out of bed. The bedclothes are covered with sweat, my sweat. Apparently I tend to sweat a lot when I'm upset.

I quickly shower and change into a plain army green blouse with black trousers.

I pause at the Cin's door as I walk down the hall, wondering whether I should wake the children up or not. I decide against it. I need to have a talk with Peeta, and besides, there's no school for the children today.

It's the day of the reaping.

I pad down the stairs, using my old hunter's tread. I never stopped hunting, throughout all these years. I still go out to the woods sometimes. Bag the odd deer or two.

The Hob, to the utter disappointment of the Seam's population, was shut down by Capitol officials when they found out we had a black market. As if it ever did any harm to us.

I smell the fragrance of Peeta's cheese buns and smile despite everything on my mind.

I descend the rest of the stairs and look at my husband, standing in front of the stove. The counter-top is covered in breakfast ingredients, so I expect he's been cooking something.

I bite my lip as my dream comes rushing back into my mind.

"Peeta?" I call out to him in a small voice.

He turns around and looks at me. Sensing something wrong, he washes his hands and holds his arms out to me. "Katniss," he says. "I know what you're thinking. They'll be fine."

I hesitate, but then walk into his embrace. He folds his arms around me and I comfort myself with the sound of his heart beating, steadily and surely. He doesn't say a thing. He knows me too well.

"But there's always a chance they get rea-"

"No, Katniss. Don't say it." He pulls me away from himself with my shoulders and looks into my eyes.

Blue to gray.

I let out a sob beside myself. "But... I'm scared. What if—what if it _does _happen?"

He frowns, and then sighs. Letting go of me, he sits down at the kitchen table. He runs his hands through his ash blonde hair. "Katniss, all we can do is hope for the best. There is _nothing_ we can do if it happens."

"I'm just so... so scared, Peeta! They could die! They could be killed! Both of them! Cin is twelve now. There is a chance that they both get reaped! And then what? We're the mentors this time around. Haymitch says he's just too old for this kind of thing now, you know that. _How_ am I supposed to sit around while my children are in danger of being killed?

"_This_ is exactly why I never wanted children. Because I would care too much to let them go if something happens. If something happens to them, Peeta... if something happens, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. And if you know what's right, neither would you."

I take a deep breath to console myself after my outburst. I see his hurt expression and feel horrible.

"Don't do that! There's nothing to feel hurt or sad about, because it's true!" An unwanted tear leaks out of the corner of my eye and I wipe it away, not wanting Peeta to comfort me just this moment. "I just want the children to be safe."

"Mom?"

My heart sinks. He heard the whole thing, I'm sure of it.

"Cin? How much of that did you hear?" I say softly turning to look at my son.

He bites his lip nervously but doesn't answer.

"Cin, answer your mother." His father says quietly but firmly.

"I..." His gaze goes from me to Peeta, and back again. "Yeah. I heard it all." He sighs.

That's one thing about him. He's like me. He doesn't make a sound while walking. He's an amazing hunter, and overall very athletic, whereas Ashe is just like Peeta.

I see the guilty look on his face, and see how he looks like he's about to burst into tears. I sigh. "Come here, Cin."

He's a very sensitive person by nature. He can feel things so deeply... he probably fully understood everything we just said.

He pads over to me and I hug him. I kiss his hair, the hair that looks just like Peeta's, over and over, as he starts sobbing into my shoulder, tears leaking out of his misty gray eyes. "I don't wanna die, mom!" he sobs. My heart breaks over and over. "You'll be fine, Cin. You have me and Dad to protect you. Besides, you might not get reaped." I can't help but feel guilty about how I'm lying about how I can protect him from the Capitol. I can't. No one can.

"Mom? What's going on?" I hear my teen's voice. Clunking noisily down the steps with a bad case of bed-head in her jet black hair. Her milky blue eyes narrow as she takes in the scene of me comforting Cin, Cin sobbing in my arms, and Peeta sitting at the kitchen table with his face hidden in his hands. "This... this is about today, isn't it? Today's the reaping. And we can get reaped as well. We can... we can die."

That's Ashe for you. Incredibly smart on the uptake.

Peeta recovers from whatever thoughts he was having and looks over to Ashe. "It's alright, Ashe. We're in this together, as a family. Right?"

She is silent for a moment, as if thinking, then nods. "Yeah. We're a family."

Peeta looks over at me. "Right, Katniss? Right, Cin? We're a family, and no matter what happens, families stick together."

I close my eyes and stroke Cin's hair. I take a long shuddering breath. "Yes. We're a family, now and forever."


End file.
